Siphon for a dispensing compartment of a washing machine

ABSTRACT

A siphon for a dispensing compartment of a washing machine includes: a first siphon part and a second siphon part, the first siphon part and the second siphon part being interconnectable to form a tube comprising a suction opening; an outlet opening and a transition curve arranged between the suction opening and the outlet opening; and a mold joint between the first siphon part and the second siphon part, the mold joint extending, when the siphon is in operation, at least in part above a fill level plane representing a maximum fill level of the dispensing compartment, and/or intersecting the transition curve.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO PRIOR APPLICATION

Priority is claimed to German Patent Application No. DE 10 2017 121877.7, filed on Sep. 21, 2017, the entire disclosure of which is herebyincorporated by reference herein.

FIELD

The invention relates to a siphon for a dispensing compartment of awashing machine.

BACKGROUND

A siphon for a dispensing compartment of a washing machine can beformed, for example, by an inner tube and a siphon cap surrounding theinner tube, as shown in FIG. 1. In this case, the outlet of the innertube requires a particular installation space in the dispensingcompartment.

SUMMARY

In an embodiment, the present invention provides a siphon for adispensing compartment of a washing machine, comprising: a first siphonpart and a second siphon part, the first siphon part and the secondsiphon part being interconnectable to form a tube comprising a suctionopening; an outlet opening and a transition curve arranged between thesuction opening and the outlet opening; and a mold joint between thefirst siphon part and the second siphon part, the mold joint extending,when the siphon is in operation, at least in part above a fill levelplane representing a maximum fill level of the dispensing compartment,and/or intersecting the transition curve.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The present invention will be described in even greater detail belowbased on the exemplary figures. The invention is not limited to theexemplary embodiments. Other features and advantages of variousembodiments of the present invention will become apparent by reading thefollowing detailed description with reference to the attached drawingswhich illustrate the following:

FIG. 1 is a schematic view of a dispensing compartment comprising asiphon;

FIG. 2 is a schematic view of a siphon comprising a mold joint extendingin the longitudinal direction;

FIG. 3 is a cross section through a siphon from FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 is a schematic view of a siphon according to one embodiment;

FIG. 5 is a schematic view of a siphon from FIG. 4 in the assembledstate;

FIG. 6 is a schematic view of a first siphon part from FIGS. 4 and 5;and

FIG. 7 is a schematic view of a second siphon part from FIGS. 4 and 5.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Against this background, the problem addressed by the present inventionis that of providing an improved siphon for a dispensing compartment ofa washing machine.

The invention has the advantage that capillary effects in the region ofthe siphon can be avoided by the mold separation line being above areservoir level of the dispensing compartment or in the region of atransition curve of the siphon. Advantageously, a siphon of this kindalso requires less installation space in comparison with a design havingan inner tube and a siphon cap.

The invention relates to a siphon for a dispensing compartment of awashing machine, the siphon comprising the following features:

a first siphon part and a second siphon part, the first siphon part andthe second siphon part being interconnected or interconnectable to forma tube comprising a suction opening, an outlet opening and a transitioncurve arranged between the suction opening and the outlet opening, amold joint between the first siphon part and the second siphon partextending, when the siphon is in operation, at least in part above afill level plane representing a maximum fill level of the dispensingcompartment, and/or intersecting the transition curve.

A siphon can be understood to be a tube-like apparatus for siphoning atextile treatment agent or water out of the dispensing compartment. Adispensing compartment can be understood to be a water dispensingcompartment comprising a prewashing agent, main washing agent or fabricsoftener tray, for example. A washing machine can alternatively also beunderstood to be a washer-dryer. A first or second siphon part can beunderstood to be a tubular or semitubular, straight or curved portion ofthe siphon. A mold joint can be understood to be a plane of a moldparting line. A fill level plane can be understood to be a reservoirlevel of the dispensing compartment. The siphon can be a one- ortwo-part injection-molded part, for example. A transition curve can beunderstood to be a curved tube portion of the siphon interconnecting thesuction opening and the outlet opening. For example, the suction openingor, additionally or alternatively, the outlet opening can face a base ofthe dispensing compartment when the siphon is in operation.

According to one embodiment, the mold joint can extend horizontally atleast in portions when the siphon is in operation. As a result,capillary effects in the mold joint can be particularly effectivelyavoided.

According to another embodiment, the tube may comprise a suction tubehaving the suction opening and an outlet tube having the outlet opening.In this case, the transition curve can interconnect the suction tube andthe outlet tube to form a U-shaped tube. The suction tube or the outlettube can be a largely rectilinear tube, for example. As a result, it canbe ensured that there is no connection between a suction side and anoutlet side of the siphon that extends into the reservoir level.

Advantageously, the first siphon part can form the suction tube or,additionally or alternatively, the outlet tube.

It is also advantageous if the first siphon part forms a first portionof the transition curve and the second siphon part forms a secondportion of the transition curve. As a result, simple demolding of thesiphon is made possible.

According to another embodiment, the first siphon part and the secondsiphon part are or can be telescopic. As a result, an interlockingconnection can be produced between the two siphon parts. The stabilityof the siphon can thus be increased.

Depending on the embodiment, the first siphon part and the second siphonpart are or can be interconnected by an interlocking connection orintegral bond or by an interlocking connection and integral bond. As aresult, the siphon can be made to be very stable.

FIG. 1 is a schematic view of a dispensing compartment 100 comprising asiphon 102. The siphon 102 comprises an inner tube 104, which is closedby a siphon cap 106 to form a symmetrical unit. A direction of flowthrough the siphon 102 is indicated by a plurality of arrows.

FIG. 2 is a schematic perspective view of a siphon 200 comprising a moldjoint extending in the longitudinal direction. Two tube parts 202, 204of the siphon 200 are shown. The two tube parts 202, 204 can be weldedtogether.

FIG. 3 is a cross section through a siphon 200 from FIG. 2. Three arrowsindicate a direction of flow through the siphon 200.

FIG. 4 is a schematic view of a siphon 400 according to one embodiment.The siphon 400 for a dispensing compartment of a washing machinecomprises a first siphon part 402 and a second siphon part 404, whichcan be combined to form a (by way of example here) U-shaped tube.According to this embodiment, the first siphon part 402 forms a lowerpart of the siphon 400. In this case the lower part comprises a suctiontube 406 having a suction opening 408 and an outlet tube 410 having anoutlet opening 412. By way of example, the two tubes 406, 410 arelargely rectilinear and are interconnected in a U-shaped manner by meansof a first portion 414, likewise associated with the lower part, of atransition curve 416 of the U-shaped tube, here a lower half of thetransition curve 416. Similarly, the second siphon part 404 forms asecond portion 418 of the transition curve 416, here correspondingly anupper half of the transition curve 416.

According to one embodiment, the two siphon parts 402, 404 can betelescopic and can thus be interlockingly interconnected. This isindicated in FIG. 4 by a large vertical arrow. Depending on theembodiment, the two siphon parts 402, 404 can be additionally oralternatively integrally bonded to each other, for example by means ofwelding or adhesive bonding.

A mold joint 420 between the two siphon parts 402, 404, indicated hereschematically by a dot-dash line, is selected, for example, such that itextends above a fill level plane 422 when the siphon 400 is inoperation, the fill level plane representing a maximum fill level or areservoir level of the dispensing compartment. The fill level plane 422is indicated schematically by another dot-dash line. It is particularlyadvantageous if the mold joint 420 extends horizontally at least inportions, as shown in FIG. 4.

FIG. 5 shows a schematic view of a siphon 400 from FIG. 4 in theassembled state. As can be seen from FIG. 5, the mold joint 420intersects the transition curve 416 in the assembled state. A directionof flow through the siphon 400 is indicated by three curved arrows.

FIG. 6 is a schematic view of a first siphon part 402 from FIGS. 4 and5. The suction tube 406, the outlet tube 410 and the lower portion 414of the transition curve are shown.

FIG. 7 is a schematic view of a second siphon part 404 from FIGS. 4 and5. The second siphon part 404 is shown together with the upper portion418 of the transition curve.

Depending on the type of washing machine and the installation space, thesiphon concept of a fabric softener tray, as shown in FIG. 1, cannotalways be used. Alternatively, a siphon in the form of an inverted U canbe produced, which is divided into two parts in the longitudinaldirection in order to be able to demold the component, as shown in FIGS.2 and 3. In this case, the two parts are welded together in thelongitudinal direction. However, this can result in various capillaryeffects outside the siphon which should be avoided as much as possible.

For this reason, the join shown here creates the siphon 400, inparticular in the form of an inverted U which is not divided in thelongitudinal direction but rather is separated horizontally, thecomponent separation line being above the reservoir level. As a result,in contrast to a siphon having an inner tube and a siphon cap, whichrequires an outlet at the bottom, installation space can be saved.Capillary effects at the component separation lines can be avoided bymeans of the horizontal separation line. In addition, a connectionbetween the suction side and the outlet side that extends into thereservoir level can be avoided.

It is particularly advantageous if the siphon 400 has a horizontalseparation line in the region of the transition curve 416. In this case,the separation line is outside the reservoir level. The siphon 400consists in particular of a lower part 402 and an upper part 404, thesuction tube 406, the outlet tube 410 and the lower half 414 of thetransition curve 416 being located in the lower part 402. In contrast,the upper half 418 of the transition curve 416 is located in the upperpart 404. According to another embodiment, the upper half 418 of thetransition curve 416 is inserted into the lower part 402 when the siphon400 is assembled, and thus forms a complete U-shaped siphon, as shown inFIG. 5. The two components 402, 404 are easy to demold since only onedemolding direction is required. There are thus no longer any undesiredcapillary effects. The media are then flushed in when required.

While the invention has been illustrated and described in detail in thedrawings and foregoing description, such illustration and descriptionare to be considered illustrative or exemplary and not restrictive. Itwill be understood that changes and modifications may be made by thoseof ordinary skill within the scope of the following claims. Inparticular, the present invention covers further embodiments with anycombination of features from different embodiments described above andbelow. Additionally, statements made herein characterizing the inventionrefer to an embodiment of the invention and not necessarily allembodiments.

The terms used in the claims should be construed to have the broadestreasonable interpretation consistent with the foregoing description. Forexample, the use of the article “a” or “the” in introducing an elementshould not be interpreted as being exclusive of a plurality of elements.Likewise, the recitation of “or” should be interpreted as beinginclusive, such that the recitation of “A or B” is not exclusive of “Aand B,” unless it is clear from the context or the foregoing descriptionthat only one of A and B is intended. Further, the recitation of “atleast one of A, B and C” should be interpreted as one or more of a groupof elements consisting of A, B and C, and should not be interpreted asrequiring at least one of each of the listed elements A, B and C,regardless of whether A, B and C are related as categories or otherwise.Moreover, the recitation of “A, B and/or C” or “at least one of A, B orC” should be interpreted as including any singular entity from thelisted elements, e.g., A, any subset from the listed elements, e.g., Aand B, or the entire list of elements A, B and C.

What is claimed is:
 1. A siphon for a dispensing compartment of awashing machine, comprising: a first siphon part and a second siphonpart, the first siphon part and the second siphon part beinginterconnectable to form a tube comprising a suction opening; an outletopening and a transition curve arranged between the suction opening andthe outlet opening; and a mold joint between the first siphon part andthe second siphon part, the mold joint extending, when the siphon is inoperation, at least in part above a fill level plane representing amaximum fill level of the dispensing compartment, and/or intersectingthe transition curve.
 2. The siphon according to claim 1, wherein themold joint extends horizontally at least in portions when the siphon isin operation.
 3. The siphon according to claim 1, wherein the tubecomprises a suction tube comprising the suction opening and an outlettube comprising the outlet opening, the transition curve interconnectingthe suction tube and the outlet tube to form a U-shaped tube.
 4. Thesiphon according to claim 3, wherein the first siphon part forms thesuction tube and/or the outlet tube.
 5. The siphon according to claim 1,wherein the first siphon part forms a first portion of the transitioncurve and the second siphon part forms a second portion of thetransition curve.
 6. The siphon according to claim 1, wherein the firstsiphon part and the second siphon part are configured to be telescopic.7. The siphon according to claim 1, wherein the first siphon part andthe second siphon part are interconnectable by an interlockingconnection and/or integral bond.